Annie Morphs Original
by rattyjol
Summary: Annie is a normal girl who loves to read. But when she buys a book from a bookstore, the characters come to life. Follow her as she joins the Animorphs on their adventures and looks deeper into their souls - and hers - then she could ever have imagined.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Animorphs, the Yeerks, the Hork-Bajir, or the Ellimist. I do, however, own Annie and a few minor OCs.

A/N: Sorry the chapters are so short; that's how I write. They get longer as the story progresses. Thought-speak tags (greater than and less than signs) don't work here so you'll just have to figure out what's thought-speak and what's not. I have 22 chapters written and I'm stuck there, but hopefully I'll have come up with something by the time I post them all. Enjoy.

Another A/N: This is takes place when they're about fourteen or fifteen, around book thirty or so.

Yet another A/N: Scratch the thought-speak comment. I replaced the signs with ↢ and ↣ signs.

* * *

**Prologue**

My name is Annie.

I'm a normal girl. I go to school, have crushes, constantly gripe about anything and everything.

But I also have another life, one I share with only six people: Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Rachel, Marco, and Ax.

It started for them at the abandoned construction site when they met a dying alien.

It started for me at the bookstore when I bought a book.

I can't tell you where we live, or my full name, or any of the last names of my friends. Maybe I'm not even using our real first names. I guess you'll never know.

But all the facts are true.

Earth is being invaded by aliens.

Now you think I'm crazy. But I've said it once, and I'll say it again: It's all true.

Now maybe you're thinking, _Okay, suppose it _is _true. Where are all the little green men from Mars, the flying saucers, the laser beams that are trying to blast us apart?_

It's not that kind of invasion.

The Yeerks are parasites.

They look like slugs. They crawl through your ear, spreading over your brain and taking over. You want to run and scream and beg, but you can't. You can't eat or drink or talk or even wiggle a finger without the Yeerk's consent. All you can do is cower silently in a corner of your mind, watching helplessly as your body tries to take over the world.

Now, before you reach for the phone book to look up the number for the insane asylum, listen to our story.

I promise you, it's true.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I ran my finger lightly along the spines of the books, sitting on the shelves and just begging to be read. A title caught my eye and I grinned, pulling the book it belonged to off the shelf.

I made my way through the aisles and rows up to the front of the store, where I lay the book on the counter and reached for my wallet, which was on a shoulder strap and slung diagonally over my torso.

The clerk ran the bar code under the scanner, and I faintly heard a soft hum, hidden by the beep of the machine. I glanced up just in time to see the book glow just slightly blue, but it quickly faded as I pushed two five dollar bills over the counter. I took my change and the book and looked it over, but there was no trace of the blue light. Maybe it had been my imagination, or there was a new scanner, although it looked exactly the same as always, battered and old-fashioned.

"Have a good day, Miss," the man behind the counter said, sounding bored.

"You too," I said politely, tucking my change safely into my wallet and heading out the door.

There was a bench right outside the door, and it was empty. Grinning, I sat down and opened to the first page of my book.

But before I got more than a sentence or two in, the door opened again, and a group of six teenagers, around my age, came out, though I hadn't noticed anyone in the store with me.

"This is insane. INSANE. That's all I'm saying."

A tall blonde girl elbowed the boy who had spoken in the ribs. "Marco," she hissed, glancing pointedly at me. He fell silent.

My eyes widened and I slowly glanced down at the cover of my book, then back at the girl, then the rest of the group.

_Oh. My. God._

Suddenly I felt the book being snatched out of my hands by another boy, with dirty-blonde hair and a strangely blank expression.

"Guys, look at this." He handed a third boy the book, whose eyes widened as he scanned the cover, then handed it to another person and so on until all of them had seen it.

"Where did you get this?" the third boy asked.

I silently pointed to the bookshop.

The short African-American girl who had seen the book last handed it back to me, and I looked at the cover again. Right at the top, clear as could be, was the word ANIMORPHS. And right below it was a picture of the blonde girl.

Rachel.

* * *

A/N: R&R, please. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Come with us," the third boy who'd spoken said. He led me around to the thick grove of trees behind the bookstore, the rest of them following me. Once they had made sure there was no one around, he turned to me. "Who are you, and what do you know about us?"

"I'm Annie." I told them my last name as well. "I know a lot," I said slowly. "You met an Andalite prince named Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul in the abandoned construction site. He gave you the power to morph and was killed by Visser Three." I pointed at the boy who seemed to be the boss. "You're Jake, the leader. Your older brother, Tom, is one of _them_."

I turned to the short black girl, dressed in a muddy T-shirt and too-small jeans. "You're Cassie, animal expert and peacemaker. Your mom is a vet at the Gardens and your dad works at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Cent, AKA your barn.

"Marco." I pointed at the first boy. "The jokester. Your dad is an engineer and your mom is the host body for Visser One.

"Rachel." I turned to the pretty blonde girl. "_Xena: Warrior Princess_ and Jake's cousin. Your two little sisters are Jordan and Sara, your mom is a lawyer and your dad is a television anchor.

"Tobias." The expressionless boy with the dirty-blonde hair. " You were trapped in red-tailed hawk morph on the first mission to the Yeerk pool, but the Ellimist gave you back your morphing powers in exchange for helping some free Hork-Bajir. Elfangor's son.

"And Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill." The last boy, who up to this point had remained silent. "Elfangor's little brother, and an Andalite _aristh_, or warrior cadet. Ax for short."

They stared at me in stunned disbelief.

Ax was the one to break the silence. "Prince Jake, shall I demorph? She may be a Controller. Ler. ER." Ax plays with sounds when he's in his human morph. A lot.

"Yes," Jake replied, still watching me intently. "Marco, make sure there's no one around, then find Erek. Tobias, go hawk."

My wide eyes flitted back and forth between Tobias and Ax, who were each returning to their normal forms. Tobias's pale skin and blonde hair swirled into reddish-brown feathers. His lips hardened into a beak and he shrank until he was only about two feet tall.

Meanwhile, Ax's feet changed to hooves, his mouth melted into smooth blue skin, vivid green eyes sprouted on stalks from the top of his head. Last of all came the thick, muscular tail, with the sharp, deadly accurate blade at the end. He held it an inch away from my throat. One wrong move and my head would be on the ground.

Jake opened his mouth, but I interrupted him.

"I understand. You're going to hold me for three days to make sure I'm not a Controller. And Erek or one of the other Chee is going to pretend to be me. And I won't resist, I swear."

He stared at me for a moment, his mouth half open, then closed it again. "Uh... all right, then, guess you know the basics. As soon as Marco comes back we'll take you to the shack in the woods."

"You'll bring me food and everything, right? I mean, you wouldn't starve me, would you?"

"No, of course not," Cassie piped up, although the look in Jake's eyes said something like, _If you're a Yeerk, yes we will._


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I felt a final tug as Ax finished tying the rope around my hands with thin, agile fingers. It was tight enough that I couldn't get free, but loose enough that it didn't cut off my circulation.

Erek the Chee would be taking my place at home. That might be a little embarrassing, but I'd deal.

Bored out of my mind, I busied myself by counting ants.

_One, two, three, four, five... two hundred and fifty six, two hundred and fifty seven... nine hundred ninety eight, nine hundred ninety nine..._

After hours, darkness fell. What was I supposed to do now? Not that counting ants had been particularly fun anyway, but...

Marco came to take Rachel's place inside the shack, while Tobias watched from outside, in his normal hawk body. In Marco's hands was a clear plastic Tupperware container of cold pizza. Better than nothing.

He unbound the rope from around my wrists, struggling a bit with the knots.

"That Andalite sure knows his ropes," he said, finally tugging out the last knot. "Eat up." He handed me the Tupperware and I pried open the lid, my hands slightly stiff from being still so long. I ate quickly and handed the container back to him, then reluctantly put my hands behind my back to be tied again. Marco didn't tie the ropes quite as tightly as Ax had, or maybe I was just imagining things.

He sat down in front of me, setting the container to the side.

"So, how do you know so much about us?"

"Books. There's fifty-four of them."

"All about us?"

"Yeah."

He seemed to be struggling internally for several seconds. Finally he blurted, "Do we win?"

I dropped my gaze to the ground. "I haven't read quite that far yet." But the truth was, I'd read spoilers, and I knew what happened.

"Oh."

We were silent then.


	5. Chapters 4 and 5

**A/N - I am so, so, so sorry for the delay. This site started taking over my life so I tried to limit my time here, and then, well . . . I forgot. Heh. Sorry. You can thank Troypayisbetter for sending me a message and bringing me back.**** If you're still paying attention to updates here, thanks for sticking with me. x) ****I sort of gave up on this story because I didn't like where it was going but I'm thinking of starting it over from scratch. Here's the next two chapters of the original to tide you over till then. Sorrysorrysorry.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4 – MARCO**

I watched Annie intently. She didn't seem to be bothered at all that she'd just been plunged into a world of nightmares.

Her shoulder-length black hair caught the moonlight that gleamed from the cracks in the ceiling. Her green eyes were closed and she was curled up on her side on the dusty wooden floor. She might have been asleep, she might not. I wasn't sure.

The only sounds were our mingled breathing and the occasional rustling of feathers from Cassie, in owl morph outside. Eventually her thought-speak voice called in to me.

Jake's coming, she said. He'll be there in about two minutes.

I stood up and Annie stirred. Her eyes blinked open and flicked up towards me briefly, quickly shutting again the moment she noticed I was watching her.

Jake walked in a moment later, stifling a yawn. I began to morph to great horned owl. Feather patterns traced across my skin, then pulled up into real feathers. My lips hardened into a beak, my eyes widened and night was suddenly day, and I shrank. Finally, the morph was complete. I grasped the empty Tupperware container in my talons and spread my wings, gliding silently out of the shack and towards my house.

I soared through the open window of my bedroom, quickly demorphing, then taking out the pillows I'd used to make it look like I was still in my bed.

I climbed under the covers, exhausted, and glanced at the clock. 2:24 AM. And there was school tomorrow. Great.

I shut my eyes and was instantly asleep.

**Chapter 5 – MARCO**

The bell rang. The students poured out into the hallways. I pushed my way through to my locker, stuffed a couple textbooks into my backpack, and slammed the thin metal door shut. I fought my way through the crowd to the front doors, leaving the school and heading towards the bus stop.

"Need a ride?" someone called. I turned to see Cassie in the passenger seat of a pickup truck. Her dad was behind the wheel. "You can ride in the back," she added, leaning through the window.

"All right, thanks," I said, glad not to have to pack onto the crowded bus as I hopped into the open back of the truck. It rumbled off. I assumed Cassie was giving her dad directions, because I didn't think he'd ever been to my neighborhood before.

"Thanks for the ride," I said, vaulting out of the back as the truck idled in front of my house.

"No problem," Cassie's dad said. Cassie leaned out the window again.

"We're all meeting at the mall later," she said. "Around four. Food court."

"I'll be there," I said, nodding. "See you."

"Bye." The truck drove away and I turned to unlock the door. I walked inside, knowing my dad wasn't home. I opened the fridge and grabbed the last slice of pizza, glancing up at the clock as I shut the door again. Three thirty. So I had around fifteen minutes to do my homework before I went to meet the others at the mall.

Still eating my pizza, I scribbled a few numbers and hoped I got my Algebra right, scanned the chapter I was supposed to read for English, and clipped out a random newspaper article for Current Events.

I scribbled a quick note to my dad explaining where I went (_At the mall - be home by 6. -M_) and decided to take my bike instead of morphing. It might take longer but at least I didn't have to walk around the mall in a Spandex morphing outfit. It would have been quicker to go through the abandoned construction site as well, but I, like the others, had stayed well clear of it since the night we'd gained our morphing powers.

They were all waiting for me by the time I got there.

"What took you so long?" Rachel asked, sounding impatient.

"I decided to get some exercise and get here the old-fashioned way."

"What, biking?"

"Yup. Brings back good memories," I lowered my voice, "of not getting torn to pieces every other night. By the way," I added, scanning the table, "if we're all here, who's watching Annie?"

"The Chee are projecting holograms to make it seem like we're still watching her," Jake explained. "She won't notice a difference."

Rachel raised her hand like we were at school. "Can we just get on with this?"

Jake nodded. "So, what are we going to do?"

Cassie frowned slightly. "We don't exactly have a choice. Even if she's not infested now, what's to stop her from becoming a Controller later? She knows too much; we've got to give her the power to resist the Yeerks."

"Are you kidding?" Rachel's voice was low but irritated. "Have you forgotten what happened the _last_ time we said that?"

"David," Tobias agreed. "We can't afford to make that mistake again."

"Ax?" Jake asked, glancing at Ax who was, of course, in human morph. An Andalite in the food court could cause somewhat of a commotion, as I unfortunately knew from personal experience.

"I side with you, Prince Jake, as always. Ayz. Zz."

"Ax? Don't call me Prince."

"Yes, Prince Jake."

Jake sighed, then turned to me. "I say we do it, so if we don't count Ax, Marco is the tiebreaker. You're always one of the first to speak up. What do you think?"

I hesitated. As much as I hated to admit it, Rachel had a point about David. On the other hand, Annie seemed... different. For one, she didn't seem at all fazed about an alien invasion. Once she'd gotten over her initial shock, which had lasted about fifteen seconds, she'd been totally fine. And... I don't know, I just had this feeling about her. She wouldn't betray us.

"I hate to use this against you, Rachel, but... let's do it."


	6. Chapters 6 and 7

**A/N - Okay, here ya go. I've started rewriting pieces of it a little at a time but all out of order and I'm not sure how much I'm going to rewrite so here's two more chapters of the original. I don't really like my writing style from back then, but . . .**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – ANNIE**

I glanced up as Marco came in and Tobias took Ax's place outside. "Hey," I said dully, bored out of my mind.

"Hey," he replied. "Erek told me to give this to you; he thought you might want something to do." He put down the book he'd brought, probably taken off of my bookshelf, and crouched down to untie me.

"You're letting me go?" I asked, bewildered.

"Nah. Just untying you so you can read."

"Well... um, thanks. I think."

"No problem. But don't even _think_ about trying to escape." But the threat seemed sort of halfhearted, like a badly delivered line by an inexperienced actor.

"I won't," I promised quickly, stretching my stiff fingers as I reached for the book. I glanced at the cover. Long, and one of my favorites. Perfect. I opened it up and began to read.

I was half-aware of Marco's intense gaze on me; it made me a little uncomfortable. _It's just because he doesn't want me to escape,_ I thought, delving deeper into the world of the written word.

I woke with a start. My feet were tied, although my hands were free. Rachel was sitting on the other side of the shack, reading. I assumed one of the others was outside. My finger was still holding my place in my own book; I must have fallen asleep reading it. I yawned and sat up. Just half a day and I'd be free. I opened the book and began reading again, but slowly, wanting to make sure what I had left would last me until then.

I hardly noticed when Jake came in to replace Rachel, or when Cassie relieved him a few hours later. I glanced up, barely registering the fact that she seemed much more relaxed, probably because there was only an hour or so before it had been three days since we met, and if I'd been a Controller the Yeerk would have been almost (or completely) dead by now. But I knew they'd keep me here till the very last minute, just to be on the safe side. They couldn't take any chances, and I respected that.

"So, why haven't we seen you at school before?" Cassie asked conversationally, and I closed my book, glad of the distraction. Don't get me wrong, I loved books, but reading for hours on end was just not my thing.

"I go to the private school," I explained. "It's on the other side of town from the public school."

"Oh."

She didn't seem to have anything more to say, so after a minute of silence I went back to my book.

**Chapter 7**

They kept me for an extra half hour. Just in case.

Then they took me to Cassie's barn. After we'd made sure her dad wasn't there, we all waited several yards away with our eyes firmly shut while she went to get the blue box from wherever she'd hidden it. The less people who knew where it was, the better. Just in case.

She came back out with a small green bag slung over her shoulder. We all followed her into the woods, Tobias flying overhead. Need I say it? Just in case.

Finally we stopped. She unzipped the bag and pulled out the blue box that was one of the worst weapons the Yeerks could have.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked. "You know what kind of life this is."

"Positive."

She held the blue box out to me and, knowing what I had to do, I placed my hand on one side of the cube and closed my eyes. A tingling feeling spread through me. When it had stopped, I opened my eyes and removed my hand. Cassie slipped the box back into her bag.

"Now, what should your first morph be?"

"Something simple," I suggested tentatively. "Something with instincts that are easy to control."

May I suggest something? Ax asked, trotting up to us in his normal Andalite form.

Jake nodded. "Go ahead."

Having Andalite morphs is useful to you. Therefore she will need one anyway, and I believe the instincts are not particularly strong.

"That's a good idea, Ax," Cassie said. "Go ahead, Annie."

Hesitantly, I reached out and touched Ax's shoulder. I focused, hoping I was doing it right. I must have, because his eyes - all four of them - kind of glazed over as he entered the acquiring trance.

Cassie nodded to me and I dropped my hand. "Now try morphing him," she suggested.

I closed my eyes, then opened them again. "What about my clothes? I don't have a morphing outfit or anything."

"I've got one for you," Rachel said, producing a leotard from who-knew-where. It was a bright, shocking pink. Wonderful. "The boys will turn around while you change."

"Okay," I said, slightly uncomfortable at the thought. I'd always needed to change behind firmly closed doors; it was just how I'd been brought up, I guess. I took the leotard and made sure all the boys, including Ax, had turned around and shut their eyes tightly before stripping off my clothes and pulling the morphing outfit on as quickly as possible. Then I closed my eyes and began the morph.

I'd read about them morphing dozens, probably hundreds, of times. They said it was gross, they said it was illogical. But reading about something like that just isn't the same as experiencing it for yourself.

My mouth was first to go. My lips melted together, my throat closed off, my teeth and tongue simply disappeared.

Ah! I yelled in thought-speak. The changes stopped.

"Just focus," Cassie said gently. "Focus on Ax. Ignore the changes."

I took a deep breath through my nose, which had already started to flatten when I'd stopped the morph. My heart was pounding as I began morphing again. Then, without warning, the sound intensified, doubled, tripled. I had three hearts. I heard the sloshing noises as the rest of my internal organs rearranged themselves, the creaking as my spine elongated. I felt like I was going to be sick, only I no longer had a mouth to be sick with. Two fully formed Andalite legs grew from the hindquarters I hadn't noticed; the muscular tail with a deadly blade on the end extended beyond that. My face narrowed; my fingers melted together and split apart again so I now had seven on each hand. My skin became slightly furry and turned blue, with a few patches of tan. My feet shifted into hooves. Finally, two stalk eyes sprang from the top of my head. The morph was complete.

I could feel the Andalite's instincts, but they were calm, and it only took me a second to get them under control.

"Annie?" Cassie asked carefully. "Can you hear me?"

Yes, I said.

"Annie?" Jake asked again, and I realized I must have directed the thought-speak only to Cassie by accident.

Sorry, I said, careful to include everyone this time. I used private thought-speak. After a second I added, This is so weird!

"You get used to it," Marco said grimly.

I flicked my borrowed tail experimentally, nearly spearing him with the blade. I flinched. Oops, sorry. I guess it takes practice.

"You should morph back now," Jake said.

I closed my eyes and began reversing the changes, trying not to pay attention to the noises. Three minutes later, I was myself again, albeit in a bright pink leotard. I quickly pulled my normal clothes on over it and sighed in relief at having my own body back.

"Okay," Cassie said. "Let's get you some morphs."


	7. Revision!

**I've begun the revision! I started it on a new story because it was easiest, so here's the link to the first chapter, if it works:**

_.net/s/6634162/1/_

**Okay, so it apparently doesn't work. Just copy and past the URL.**

**Ugh . . . so that doesn't work either. Just go up to the URL bar and replace the corresponding parts with the part of the URL that shows up. Okay? 'OTL**


End file.
